Every night she finds him
by Moltie
Summary: Luke is worried about his friends lifes, even though he claims to have left everything about them and camp half-blood behind. Something is changing him. Chapter 6 is here!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"_Are you sure we can make it?"_

"_Yes I'm sure. Come on now"_

"_Promise, for real?"_

"_Yes I promise."_

Luke woke up again, the sheets had been twisted around his body and he tried to breathe normal again, but the dream had startled him and now he just couldn't calm down. He must look like a total mess, like this. Stupid.

"Nice one, Luke." He told himself, since there was no one else there to talk to him. The sea was roaring outside the window. It reminded him of Percy. And Camp Half-blood. And of course the sound of Annabeths laughter when he chased here across the fields, trying to get the flag before her team got hold of it. But all of this, it was far away now. And he, himself, was stuck in an old ship with some worthless monsters and a couple of deadly weapons. Then of course, the stupid coffin with Kronos' remains. He wanted to trade it all for them. He just wanted to be back in Cabin Eleven with all the other sons and daughters of Hermes. He just wanted to be back with Percy and Annabeth.

"Sir Luke"

The sweet voice sounded like flowers and birds. He looked up just to see her standing in the doorway, smiling at him.

"Persephone" he said with a quiet voice. "Does Hades know you're here?"

"Of course not." She smiled and slowly came closer to him, without taking her eyes off him. "What's the matter darling? Did you have another nightmare?"

Luke sighed. He was starting to get tired of these late nights visits from Persephone. But then again, Luke was just a 19 year old guy who didn't really could tell a beautiful woman to leave his bed when she gladly shared it as often as she could. It didn't really matter at all that she was married, not even that she was married to the god of Death. Okay, maybe it mattered a little. Especially right now.

"What did you want?" he asked coldly and ignored the fact that her hand had started stroking his leg. She stopped, almost looking offended.

"Do I have to want something?" she answered, her lower lip pouting. And Luke wanted to kiss her badly. But then he remembered his feelings and no, tonight he wouldn't give in to temptation.

"You always want something." He pushed her down on to the bed, but just to get her out of the way so he could get out of it, and stand up looking through the windows. Looking at freedom. She sighed and stood up beside him.

"Do you miss it?"

"What?!" Luke asked, sounding angrier than he was.

"The camp." Persephone looked at him and for a moment he got lost in her eyes. "Do you miss being such a waste for the world?"

"I'm not… It's just… Forget it. You wouldn't understand."

"I were kidnapped to the underworld and forced to marry and love a man for centuries. I think I can understand pretty much everything" she got hold of his hand, and he made no effort of letting go. "Besides, you know what will happen to them if you don't do what I tell you."

"I know." He sounded weak now. "You have to keep them safe."

"And I will. So… want to be with me now?"

He didn't complain when her lips found his.

"_Are you sure we can make it?"_

"_Yes I'm sure, Annabeth, I'm sure."_

"_Promise, for real?"_

"_Yes, I promise."_


	2. Chapter 2

The first time Luke met Persephone had been at the beach when they first boarded Princess Andromeda. She had caught his attention with her beautiful smile, gorgeous eyes and a body Luke knew he should have realized was divine. But at that moment, his brains seemed to stop working. And when the men aboard the Princess Andromeda had told him who that woman was, he just couldn't believe what he was hearing. He spend a lot of nights sleeping with his eyes open, just to look if Hades was coming to kill him. But instead he got another meeting with the queen of the Underworld and again and again they ended up together. And it was the third night she told him about the plans the others had made for Percy and Annabeth.

"They will kill them and make you watch."

Luke had not been expecting a comment like that, and he dropped the glass of water he was holding.

"What?"

"The General. Kronos. All of them." She looked up at him from under the sheets, almost looking innocent for a while. "They can feel your doubt. They will remove the one thing that could lead you over to the other side."

Luke swallowed.

"But… They mean nothing to me. I've left that life behind."

"Oh please." Persephone got up from the bed and started walking towards the door. "Your love for them can be seen from another world."

And then she disappeared, leaving Luke with his worries.

She had returned the night after that. Luke had not left his room; he had just spent the entire day looking out at the roaring sea, worrying about Annabeth and a little about Percy. He didn't even notice her until she sat down beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I can help you, you know."

"Help me with what?" Luke's voice was hoarse, since he hadn't spoken a word since last night.

"Protect them. Keep them away from all the danger."

"You can do that?"

"Of course I can." She smiled. "But then… I need you to do something for me."

"And what would that be?" Luke looked at her and somehow he already knew the answer.

"Be mine. I'm dying of loneliness in the Underworld."

"Really bad joke"

"I know. You don't get a lot of practicing in joking when you're married to Hades." She had been really close the whole time, and he didn't really know how to react to her need.

"How will you keep them safe?"

"I've got my own tricks, you know."

It had been three months. Still Percy and Annabeth were alive and, so far as he knew anyway, they were okay. A soft knock on the door made Luke turn around, half expecting to see Persephone, despite the cold reaction she had gotten from him last night. But the person in the doorway wasn't Persephone. It wasn't even a woman.

It was Hades.

"My wife's been here."

Luke didn't know what to do. The god seemed to spread cold around him; he was dressed in black with some kind of silver pattern around the sleeves, in his hand was the helmet that caused total invisibility to the bearer. His thin lips were showing his dislike, and his grey eyes looked at Luke with a coldness Luke had never felt before.

"I… No, she hasn't. I haven't seen her."

"Quit playing me, kid." The god roared and Luke took a few steps back. The reason why Hades almost never left the Underworld must be that he's so scary. "I know you've been with her, you little prat. Speak, and I might spare your life."


	3. Chapter 3

"So this is what my wife wants every night?"

Hades laughed and lifted Luke up before throwing him against the wall like a ragdoll, causing the scar the dragon once made open up again, bleeding like hell.

"Really? This is what she prefers? You're nothing." And he kicked Luke in the stomach, hard, before lifting him up again, this time with his hands around Luke's throat. The vicious eyes of the god of Death were looking at the half-blood, and the fury seemed to burn in them.

"I could break your body into so many parts it would take a million years for all the demigods in the world to find them." Hades let go of him, and Luke crawled up against the wall, coughing and trying to stop the blood from the scar. "I could make you suffer in ways you can't even imagine. Stay away from her."

And as quickly as he had arrived, the god was gone again. Luke coughed again and when he had calmed down a little he seemed to breathe normal again. He crawled up from the floor and looked at himself in the mirror. A total mess. Slowly he let the top of his fingers touch the scar. It really hurt. Stupid gods. They always thought the whole world belonged to them. He reached for a rag with a little water on it, trying to clean his face.

"Who did this to you?" Persephone's voices sounded terrified. "Did the General do something?"

Luke shook his head and didn't look at her. When he didn't she came closer to him.

"Your husband paid me a little visit."

Persephone looked down at the carpet, and when she looked into Luke's eyes again the fear showed in her eyes.

"How did he know?" Her voice was only a whisper; he barely heard what she was saying. For a moment he looked angry.

"I don't know. He's strong though."

"You're hurt. Let me fix it." Her soft hands slowly took the rag from him, and she started to clean his wound instead. He tried not to show how much it hurt. The pain burned inside him, though, damn that Hades, he probably broke a couple of ribs on him. The moment seemed to go on forever and finally, Luke started to feel like a person again. He moved away from Persephone and sat down on the bed.

"So, we have to end this?"

She blinked.

"What?"

"Us? I mean, come on, it's not like I can survive if your husband finds it funny to beat me half to death every time our roads cross." Luke looked at the wife of the man who had just broken half his body, and then down. "Perhaps it's for the best"

Surprised, he saw a tear trickle down her cheek, falling onto the carpet. God, this was not happening.

"Don't cry, please… Don't cry. Come here." He opened up his arms and she fell into them, hugging him carefully, not to hurt him. He looked at her and then kissed her tears away. "Maybe… We'll figure something out. So we can… keep doing this."

She looked at him, but her eyes were suddenly filled with disbelief.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." He took her hand and kissed her softly on the lips. "I kind of… Don't wanna lose you. It's just… Hades, you know…"

"You're scared." She smiled and looked like she was about to start laughing.

"No!" but his voice wasn't very convincing at the moment. He therefore just held her close for a while and tried to make the fear go away. She didn't say anything.

When the morning came, she was still there. Luke had slumbered off for a while, and was surprised to see her still in his arms. Usually, she disappeared as soon as she had gotten what she came for. She yawned, and looked like a cute little kitten. Luke smiled. This wasn't bad. Maybe this thing with Persephone could be great, after all. Then he remembered the visit from Hades and the pain returned to his ribs. He sighed. Why did he go through all this just to save Percy and Annabeth? Persephone opened her eyes.

"Oh no, what time is it?"

"Don't know… Noon?"

"I have to get going." She almost jumped out of the bed and started to look around to see if some of her things were there.

"Why?" he didn't want her to leave. Not yet.

"A war is coming, Luke." She kissed him and then looked deep into his eyes."We have to be ready for that."

"And you will keep them safe?"

"Of course." She turned around and started walking to the door.

"What about me?"

She stopped.

"I've got my eyes on you. All the time."

And then she was gone. Luke fell back onto the pillows and watched the ceiling for several hours.

Outside the world was moving, and everyone seemed to prepare themselves for what was coming. A war that could change life for them forever, and destroy the world as they knew it. Luke felt like he didn't care anymore. But then he came to his senses and got up from the bed. It was time to go back to Camp Half-blood.


	4. Chapter 4

"I need a medal for doing this" Luke muttered as he slowly sneaked out of the ship, causing several more scars and scratches on his arms and knees since the only way out was through a lot of bushes with sharp thorns. After just five minutes he was bleeding, and the red blood caused red spots on his clothes. He cursed the gods for a couple of minutes, but then realized that he was far from the ship, far enough to take the roads again. Gladly he jumped up from the bushes, and walking on a road was much, much easier.

"Now… What's the fastest way to the camp…" He said, mostly thinking out loud to himself, and then he walked fast to the nearest bus station he could find.

It took hours and hours to get to Camp Half-blood. When Luke finally arrived he felt like he spent days with screaming children and sweaty sneakers. Out in the clean air, he felt like himself again. He took a moment to himself to figure out where he was and which road he would have to take to walk the last bit to the camp, then he realized that he probably just wouldn't be able to walk into there. Oh this was smart. Stupid. He had forgotten everything. No, he hadn't forgotten it; he just… didn't want to think about it. The war, the fact that he sort of had tried to kill both Percy and Annabeth, and tried to attack the camp… why had he returned again?

When he finally saw the camps borders, he froze. For the first time in three years, he was really scared. His hands were shaking. Without thinking he dove in behind a tree and watched the camp, trying to see if any half-bloods were out training. It seemed like everyone was still in bed though. He then thought about Persephone and damn, he wanted to be back in bed with her. When he finally had the courage get up from his hiding place, and took a deep breath to be able to start walking, he felt the cold blade of a sword, pressed against his throat.

"What are you doing here?" Even though he hadn't heard it for a while, Luke immediately recognized the voice of Percy Jackson. He swallowed.

"Now now… Let's not… do something we'll regret Percy"

"Oh I'm not about to do anything I ever will regret. Why are you here? Do you have a death wish?" Percy's voice was ice cold, and the sharp edge of Riptide was not a very pleasant thing to feel on his neck, Luke thought.

"Look… Percy, please, can we just talk about this?"

"Why the gods would I like to talk to you? Give me ONE good reason!" Percy almost shouted at him.

"Because otherwise you and Annabeth might die." Luke muttered and after just a few seconds, Percy took Riptide away.

"What are you talking about?" he asked and Luke could hear his voice shaking. "What is it? What's with me and Annabeth?"

Luke turned around and looked into Percy's eyes.

"They're after you. The general. Kronos. They want to kill you, see you dead."

"Everyone wants to see me dead. Why would I trust you?" But Percy's eyes were showing some fear now.

"Because you want to protect her." Luke smirked and leaned back on the tree. Percy swallowed.

"Well… of course, she's my friend; I don't want her to…"

"Oh please." Luke looked at Percy and smiled viciously. "I've been away and even I can see that you love her more than anything. Now, do you want my help or will you let your sweetheart walk into the underworld dead this time?"

"You tried to KILL me. I'm not gonna trust you. Ever."

"You don't have to. Just listen to me."

But Percy held Riptide close to Luke's throat again.

"You will answer to Chiron. Let's go, we're gonna visit the big house."

This really didn't go well, Luke thought as he walked the way to the big house, with Percy following him close like some sort of puppy, but with a sword, and willing to cut his throat. But what had he expected? A welcome back hug maybe? He sure needed it though. As the doors of the big house came closer, he swallowed. He was nervous. Maybe Chiron didn't hesitate to cut his throat, like Percy had. After all, Chiron didn't seem like the forgiving type. Or was he? Luke hadn't really thought of it.

"Luke?!" Annabeth Chase came down the hill, the closer she got to them, the more furious her eyes seemed to be. "What are you doing with him?!" She gave Percy a dark look, sort of like she was blaming him for Luke's appearance.

"I just…"

"It's not…"

They had both started talking at the same time. Percy glared at Luke and Luke thought that it was maybe for the better to let him talk first and not take any more chances to be even more hated than he already was. Annabeth gave him a murderous look and then she turned to look at Percy, now with her eyes a little softer than before.

"Found him outside the camps borders." Percy gave Luke a push, perhaps just to show off for Annabeth with showing how much in charge he was. Luke sighed.

"What? What are you doing here? Why did you come back?"

"I…" Luke opened his mouth but was once again Percy took over the conversation. When had he become so "I'm the leader"-ish?

"He is saying there's a couple of people that wants us dead. Like we're not used to that."

"You're not used to THIS KIND OF PEOPLE!" Luke snapped and then got hold of Annabeths arm. "Please Annabeth, listen to me, I know you…"

"Let go of me!" Annabeth yelled and her eyes got watery. "I never wanna hear a word from you. Ever again!"

Percy laid one of his arms around her, then he pointed riptide at Luke's throat again.

"I should kill you right now…"

"But you won't." A quiet voice from the entrance to the Big House interrupted their so called conversation. They look up and saw Chiron standing there, watching them. "We will listen to his words, since I've just got a very… worrying call from Mount Olympus. Percy, if you please, can you escort Luke into the house? You're free to keep the sword like that. But I don't want any blood on the floor!"

Luke looked at Percy, and he got a dark look back.

"Let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

So, the camp hadn't really changed at all. Luke still recognized the big house, with the warm interior and of course, Mr D was still there. Now he was watching Luke with dark eyes.

"Oh well if it isn't mr traitor who wants to destroy the camp. Why have you come back? And why did you fail?"

Luke said nothing. Instead he spent some time watching his shoes, and then when he looked up again, everyone was watching him carefully.

"What's the word from the Gods?" asked Annabeth and Luke noticed she was the only one not staring at him.

"Oh, not many words. But something is happening. The gods aren't happy with the way things are lining up." Chiron walked over to the window and looked outside. The campers were all busy with the usual stuff, like training and building extremely deadly weapons.

"I told you so." Luke said quietly, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"What do you know?" Chiron gave Luke a very, very serious look.

"I still don't get it. Why should we trust him?" Percy looked angry again, but not at Luke this time, no, he turned his anger to Chiron. "He's the main reason we're under this threat. He's the one that wanted to destroy Olympus and the Gods. He wanted to destroy us! And now he's what, our protector?"

Chiron didn't answer. Instead he just kept his eyes on Luke.

"I'm sure he will tell us. Won't you, Luke?"

Luke sighed. He had expected this, but he didn't really wanna bring up the entire story in front of everyone, like this.

"Well… Okay. It started with, of course, a girl."

Percy rolled his eyes.

"Oh please."

"Percy." Chiron said, calmly, but impatient. "Can we please let this discussion go on without getting blood on the floor? I just had it cleaned since yesterday, when a kid of Hermes made fun of the girls from the Aphrodite cabin trying out their new nail polish."

Percy sat down on a chair and crossed his arms over his chest, muttering something Luke figured was "okay". He took a deep breath and continued. Under the next five minutes he spoke, without any interruption at all, about meeting Persephone, seeing things in a different perspective, feeling something again, as if all of his emotions came back and finally, about the threat against the camp and its campers. When he was finished, Mr D started laughing.

"Oh my. I haven't had this much fun since I slipped a sip of my special happy juice into Apollos coffe.. Ergh. Different story. Are you serious with this? You and Persephone? I have to go get a drink" and laughing his eyes out with tears of joy in them, he left the house. They could still hear him outside. Percy looked darkly at Luke, but it was Chiron who spoke first.

"This is… Indeed… Not what I expected. I'm not going to comment on your… choice of love… But I will not act like it's a smart choice. But the main part of this is the threat. Do you know who they are?"

"9 months ago… I made a blood sacrifice to a stone." Luke now spoke directly to Chiron, since Percy and Annabeth still looked pretty much in shock and Mr D was still laughing outside the house. "Something that would help us bring down the Gods. I didn't really asked what it was. Back then it was all, do this, and need that, same incantations, different day and.. You know. Didn't ask for the background."

"Until?"

Luke looked at Annabeth quickly and that back at Chiron again.

"Until I met Persephone. I told you. It's like she woke something up. Inside me. Then I started having these dreams. About Camp. Campers. Percy. And… Annabeth. In huge danger. Like, massive danger."

"What kind of danger?" Percy walked across the room and then looked at Luke again, like he wanted to see him in the bigger picture.

"Bounty Hunters."

"What?!"

"A new kind of evil. You won't recognize it from your myths. It's new. Created by the Titans, rescued from the deep pit of Tartarus." Luke looked at Chiron, then Percy, Annabeth, and back to Chiron. "They only exist for one purpose. To hunt. And to never give up. Until the task is done of course."

The sea outside started to swallow the sun, now.

"And the task is?" Chiron's voice sounded calm, but his eyes looked worried.

"To eliminate the biggest threat against the plan to bring Olympus down." Luke now looked directly at Percy and Annabeth. "And that, would be… you."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

Everything was quiet. Luke woke up with a huge neck pain, since Chiron had insisted that he would sleep on the cold floor of the Big House. Apparently, no one didn't really thought it would be a good idea for him to just waltz into the Hermes cabin, without a long explanation on where he'd been all this time. And why he had gone from good to evil, and then back to good. Luke agreed with Chiron though. It had been enough to face Percy and Annabeth that day. He didn't want to have to face all the other campers, since Chiron probably couldn't stop them all from beating him half to death.

It had been weird. After he told everyone about the bounty hunters, Annabeth had lost all color in her face, and Percy blamed the wall and smashed his wrist through it. Chiron had said nothing. When mr D returned though, the two of them stood in the corner, whispering for a while. Then Chiron came back, ordered Percy and Annabeth to their beds, and then Luke to the floor at the fireplace. He sighed. Right now it seemed like a lousy idea. He wanted a real bed, that wouldn't cause this pain. He turned over, facing the now fading fire. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something nice to ignore the pain, when a soft knock on the door interrupted him. He sat up. He reached for his sword, he didn't know if he would need it, but it seemed like the best thing.

Then the door opened and he saw the glowing beauty of Persephone enter.

"Persephone!" Luke whispered, and got to his feet. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Luke." She looked at him, and her eyes were filled with tears. "I missed you." She fell into his arms. Luke hugged her tight.

"I missed you too." His voice was shaky, and it surprised him. He didn't usually get a shaky voice. She looked deep into his eyes, and then softly kissed his lips.

"How did it go?" She rested her head on his shoulder. "Did you tell them?"

Luke nodded. He didn't know what to say, he just wanted to hold her.

"Did they believe you? I mean… I know you're not the first one they decide to trust these days."

Luke smiled. He didn't know why, but he found this situation funny.

"Yes, they did. Well, Percy might have hesitated a little, but that's Percy… He's always like that."

"So typical a son of Poseidon to be that way." Persephone shrugged and let go of Luke. "You have to earn their trust Luke, it's important. If the hunters succeed, the end will be near. And we can't escape it."

She looked at the fading fire and a shadow of sadness fell over her. "Even lord Hades fears this. He's not supposed to meddle with the forces though; his hands are tied so to speak." She looked back at Luke. "Do you think you can realize how dangerous this is when the gods can't interfere?"

"But what do you want me to do? I can't force them into trusting me, I mean, I even understand them. I wouldn't trust me if I were in their shoes."

"You have to." She looked at him again, her eyes were dark and he couldn't decide if they looked sad, or just demanding. Then, as quickly as she had enter the cabin she was gone again.

Luke sat down on the floor, feeling like hitting his head into the wall. He had no idea how to do this.

He woke up again to the sound of voices close to the cabin. He sat up. The sun was shining and the sky was cloudless. Quickly he got up to his feet.

"… not trying to make us all go to Hades"

Perzy froze as he spotted Luke in the room, just when he was entering. "Oh, I forgot you were still here. Thought this whole thing just was a really, really bad dream."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"Well, lots of that going around with you, right?"

"I didn't mean to…"

"Oh whatever."

Percy sat down at the big table, his back facing Luke. "Let's just get this over with. Chiron is just telling the rest of the campers what's going on and we better get ready for a fight. Both with the threats you're telling us about and the rest of the campers vs. you. I can't see many happy faces today."

Luke didn't say anything. What would he say?

"Being quiet suits you. You should try it more often." Percy's words were like poison. Luke would have loved to know what made him become this way.

"Boys we don't have time for your pesky word games." Annabeth entered the cabin, followed by Chiron. Luke tried to smile, like some kind of peace offering but she just walked right past him, not so much as giving him a glance. She sat down next to Percy and they both faced Chiron, who had taken place at the end of the table, looking dead serious.

"The campers have been notified about this situation. Now all we have to do is get to those bounty hunters before they get to us. We do however know nothing about what they are and what their powers are." He turned to Luke. "Luke, you're the only one with information, and sadly the only one we can trust about this. I'm not going to lie and say I like this, because I don't. But we still have to rely on you telling us the right things. Do you know anything else that can help us go through this?"

Luke swallowed and felt unsure about himself once again. He then shook his head, making everybody around the table sigh.

"Why are we even keeping him here? He knows nothing." Percy's voice was still like poison through the air. "I say we give this traitor what he deserves."

Before Luke realized what was going on Percy had gotten up on his feet and tackled Luke to the ground. Luke could hear Annabeth and Chiron yelling, but he was too busy hearing what they said – Percy's hands got dangerously close to choking him. Suddenly he could feel the cabin shaking, like an earthquake. Percy stopped with the choking and let go of Luke. Luke gasped for air.

"What's going on?" Annabeth stood up, but fell down to the floor since the whole cabin was still shaking. "An attack?"

Luke looked up from the floor just in time to see the door open. Or open, it was blasted off its place.

Persephone entered the room, looking furious. Her hair looked almost electric, like the rest of her body and especially her eyes, that looked like a summer thunderstorm. She walked right past Chiron and Annabeth, gave Percy one look that could probably nearly kill someone and then fell on her knees right next to Luke.

"You okay?"

Looking into her eyes now, Luke could see she was almost in tears. He nodded, and nervously glanced around to see what the others did, but they all stood silent, except for Percy that leaned close to Annabeth, muttering something that Luke could hear was about thinking about the age difference.

"I'm okay." He said, finally. "You didn't have to come. I had it under control."

She laughed.

"You did not. But I'm here now." She stood up, and now her eyes were on Chiron. "I understand we have a problem?"

Chiron looked a little nervous in her presence but he still managed to nod.

"We're not exactly sure how to manage this situation."

Persephone looked at them all, and then she sighed.

"None of us are. And I'm not even supposed to be here. But you better get ready. And better start believing. Because the threat we know of, is getting closer to your camp. It's time for you to take your stand."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Persephone left almost as quickly as she had arrived, she didn't want to be seen by more people than was needed and Luke understood that, even though he wished she could've stayed for at least a little bit longer. The trust he felt had built between him and the others when Persephone had entered the house seemed to have disappeared with her, and now it was back to glances and mean comments from Percy, even though he didn't attack him again. Luke sighed. He did not know how to make the situation better, he had tried everything, and if that didn't work, there was not that much more he could do. He tried to keep away from the rest of them, as they were all examining their weapons and how to use some new ones, he didn't look weird where he was standing, holding Backbiter. Now and then Percy looked at him and then leaned over to whisper something in Annabeth's ear, but she never gave him any response except for looking at him with a look that clearly said she wished he would stop. It made Luke feel a little bit better about himself.

"Do you need anything, Luke?"

Luke turned around and saw one of the Stoll brothers standing behind him, with a glimpse in his eyes that could be anything from playful to evil, he just never learned how to read the emotions of them.

"A knife in the back, maybe? No wait, that's what he does." The other brother showed up and Luke watched Travis and Connor with a weak smile. He knew that it had been bound to happen, his half brothers showing up like this. He just didn't thought they would act like this.

"Look, guys, I know I can never make up for all that I did…"

"You're right, you can't." Travis said and turned his back on Luke.

"You're just gonna have to wait for your rightful punishment, whenever that will come." Connor followed his brother out of the room. Luke sighed. Of course, as soon as Percy and Annabeth somewhat came to trust him again, there would be others who would not. If he could only use the mist to make everything okay for the moment. He just didn't want to be the source of everyone failing this. He didn't want to see them all destroyed, just because they put emotions before preparations.

It wasn't easy, preparing for a fight which you knew would be more difficult than anything you'd ever faced before, at least people kept telling you that it would be more difficult than anything else. Luke could see that some campers still had some doubt and hell, maybe even he did. Was it really worth it? Should he just try to forget it all, and get Persephone and elope, like a young couple in love, going to Vegas to get married? Luke didn't think the goddess would want to follow him though, considering she was a lot, lot older than him and the technicality that she was already married, to a death god, probably wasn't one of the pros in this situation either.

"I'll fight with you." Percy said, the next morning. "But not because I trust you. Or like you. Because I really don't like you. But because I don't want the Camp to suffer, okay? That's the only reason."

"I know you don't like me." Luke said, trying to stay calm. "This is more important than you and me though, Percy. You do understand that, right?"

Percy looked furious.

"Yes, unlike you, I am able to see the big picture."

"Don't fight." Annabeth said, and she sounded tired. "It's enough going on already, I don't need a fight before the big one, please."

Percy still didn't seem ready to let Luke off the hook, but he sat down next to Annabeth, not talking back to Luke. Luke sighed.

"We'll get through this, we always do."

"Well, you haven't really been here to see what we can get through or not." Chiron said, who had just entered the room. "But we'll leave that, for now. If my sources are correct, the threat is coming closer and closer to us, as we speak. I've prepared our borders."

"Good, good." Luke felt like he was nervous and ready, at the same time. "We need to make sure everyone is ready. We need more time."

"I don't think we have more time." Percy said, as they started hearing screaming, he rushed to the window. "It looks like they're coming. They're already here!"

Luke, followed by Annabeth, Chiron and Percy, rushed outside. Luke could see campers running around like confused chicken, like they didn't know where they should be. Some of the older ones seemed more prepared, Apollo cabin came with bows, Athena Cabin with swords and Ares Cabin, they came with whatever they had on themselves that time.

"Be calm!" he heard Clarisse from the Ares cabin yell at the rest of the campers. "You useless pricks, be calm, they're not going to be any trouble."

"I think she's wrong." Percy said, when they spotted the creature that had campers running for their life, coming closer. "They are… oh gods."

Luke agreed with Percy. Whatever he had imagined, it wasn't this. The bounty hunters didn't look like anything, they looked like snow and fire at the same time, like man and beast combined together. First Luke thought he saw their faces, then it looked like they didn't have any faces at all. And then all he could see was their weapons; that looked lethal. Luke spotted four of them, which wasn't a lot, but maybe more than enough for this camp.

"Have them focus on one at a time." Luke yelled as he and Percy started running. Percy nodded, and started screaming out orders to the campers, having them prepare to fight.

"Beat them into jam." Clarisse yelled, followed by her cabin, and Luke was happy they had a fighter like Clarisse and the rest of the Ares-kids, because they were needed.

"I don't think it's gonna be enough." He heard Annabeth yell, as the campers started attacking. "They're too much, what are they?"

"Don't give up!" Luke yelled, but as the battle started and continued, he could see that maybe Annabeth was correct. The creatures didn't seem to be affected by any weapons, and they were huge, much bigger than anything, even bigger than the dragon.

"Perc, you think you can control the water?" Luke asked, as he looked around to see what else there was. "Maybe you can put out the fire."

Percy nodded.

"Watch this."

The ocean roared as Percy seemed to control the water, and a flood of water rushed over one of the creatures, that yelped.

"It's working, you're killing it!" Luke yelled, surprised and happy, because the creature melted under the wave of the water. Percy looked pleased with himself, but then he suddenly remembered there were three more.

"We could just some Hermes-brains." Percy yelled and he looked tired already, Luke could tell he'd used too much power.

"No, what we need is more water." Luke yelled back. "Percy, get the campers to lure them down to the sea. We'll trick them!"

If Percy thought the plan was weird he didn't say so, instead he shouted out orders and everyone disappeared from the hill, instead running towards the beach and the ocean. The bounty hunters looked like they were confused, but they followed the campers as quickly as they could.

"This will work." Luke murmured as Percy joined his side. "I'm sure of it. We just need… to push them."

"Excuse me? That will not be easy!"

"I know, but we have to. Now!"

Luke ran down towards the ocean, ending up behind the three creatures.

"Campers, give them all you got! Dionysus-kids, use the plants!"

Campers from the Dionysus-cabin quickly used their powers to make vine plants grow, using them as rope. The bounty hunters were stuck.

"Now, we just push. Do it!"

Luke helped out and they joined forces, and with help from everyone at camp, they managed to push the creatures down in the water, and when they touched the surface, the same reaction as for the first one, started happening.

"It's working." Luke yelled, and everyone started cheering. "Now we just… ow."

Everything was black.

"Luke? Luke!"

Luke tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't see, he only heard the voice of Percy and Annabeth.

"Give him something, we need to… Luke, can you hear me?"

Luke tried to move, but his body felt heavy. Something was hurting him.

"I… What happened?"

He finally was able to open his eyes. He could see tears in Annabeths eyes. Percy looked pale as a ghost.

"One of their weapons, it… you were injured. We're trying to…"

"It's too late."

As Luke uttered the words, he knew it was true. He could feel the life disappearing from his body, he wasn't going to come out alive from this.

"Stop it, you saved camp, we'll figure something out." Percy said, but Luke tried to shook his head.

"No, I… It's my time. I am sorry for what I've done. I will not make it."

"Stop it you jerk." Percy shouted. "You're not dying on us now, leaving us feeling bad. You're going to pull through!"

"Take care of camp." Luke said, and felt tired. "And it's not all bad, this. I will get to see more of Persephone, anyway…"


End file.
